Ever wonder if the post-exercise soreness is an indicator of a good workout or a sign you overdid it?

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

The soreness you feel after a workout is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS for short. While discomfort is the most noticeable characteristic of DOMS, reduced range of motion, joint stiffness, and diminished muscle strength are also common. For some, DOMS is immediate and lasts for days, while for others, the discomfort appears one to two days after a workout and is short-lived.

Some believe DOMS is caused by a lactic acid build-up in the body, but this is not true. Lactate is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is usually cleared from the body within one hour of the workout ending. But you do cause tiny tears in your muscles when you exercise. These tears are the very things that cause the muscles to repair themselves, which leads to your gains!

Factors That Cause DOMS

While the amount of tearing does depend on the workload and intensity of your workout, there are many other factors that contribute to the amount of soreness (and its timing) you may or may not experience. Genetics, hydration, cumulative movement, and warm-up and cool-down activities all play a part in whether or not you’re in pain. Let’s discuss that a little more.

Genetics play a big part in whether you feel DOMS. Some people are no- or low-responders, while others are high-responders to the effects of muscle conditioning. There’s nothing you can do about that. For example: Two similarly trained women lifting the same amount of weight during an exercise will feel soreness at a different level the following days if one is a high-responder and the other a low.

Hydration during and after a workout session can also affect the amount of soreness you feel. Drinking water before, during, and after a workout will help. You also might experiment with an electrolyte replacement if you’re planning a more intense or longer workout.

How to Help Reduce DOMS

For years, we thought that static stretching (holding a stretch for 30 seconds or more) pre- and post- workout would eliminate DOMS. Sadly, it’s just not true. Research shows that including a proper warm-up and cool down can help prepare the muscles for the work ahead.

Ultimately, soreness is not an effective way to measure your workout. Instead of placing importance on soreness—or a lack thereof—focus on how a workout makes you feel in the moment and once you’re done. Set goals based on performance improvement versus the amount of muscle relief cream you go through!

The big picture is great, and it’s important to have an overall idea of where you want to go — but you can’t go from A to Z without a few steps in between, and in order to make sure you’re on track to reach your overarching goal, you’ve gotta have a plan in place. Think about smaller goals that can lead you to that big picture goal!

2. You go in with an all or nothing mentality

When your goal is perfection rather than progress, there’s only one way to succeed — and dozens of ways to fail. Set yourself up for success by allowing for a bit of flexibility as the healthy changes you make become new habits. Remember… failing at something is a lesson, not a reason to quit

3. You şet unrealistic goals

Lots of people set goals that are more about friends or people they admire than they are about themselves, and you wanna guess how often they reach them? Don’t wish to be someone else, you are you! Make the best version of you possible! Want the best looking legs? Arms? Core? Don’t compare to others!

4. You assume that only big changes lead to the results you want

Don’t discount the impact that small changes can have on your health. All the little goals you

achieve will help make the next step easier!

5. You decide to go at it alone

When it comes to making changes — and sticking to those changes — support and accountability are enormously important. Workout with a group (Temple Challenge :) ) or surround your self with people that will make your journey successful!

Sleep one of the most important factors when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle! We all want to be healthy. So why do we jeopardize ourself with lack of getting Z’s. Lets take a look at sleep from an overall health perspective:

Inflammation

Research indicates that people who get less sleep—six or fewer hours a night—have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more. Inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and premature aging.

Losing Weight

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that dieters who were well rested lost more fat—56% of their weight loss—than those who were sleep deprived, who lost more muscle mass. Dieters in the study also felt more hungry when they got less sleep.

Each year, the National Sleep Foundation does a poll and gives us the state of sleep in America. Year after year, the studies show:

Exercise reduces stress and tires us out so that we’re able to sleep longer and better.

Sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and narcolepsy cost millions in medical costs and disrupt work and social lives.

Even when they get the same amount of sleep (an average weeknight is 6 hours and 51 minutes), people who exercise report getting better sleep than those who don’t work out. They’re also much less likely to report sleep problems, including waking up too early or trouble falling asleep in the first place.

After reading about all these positive benefits about sleep, try and add these good habits into your nightly routine. Also, if you get 20-30 minutes during your afternoon…TAKE A POWER NAP!

When you treat your body well it will react and do the same back! Now, get some sleep tonight and dream all about the amazing FITNESS PARTIES in your future!

7 Healthy Tips for managing your stress

Hello May! This is my favorite month of the year! Along with this time of the year comes a lot of activities, family events, work obligations, and family vacations. How is it possible to juggle everything that comes at you in life? Below are seven healthy tips to help in managing this stress you may be feeling.

Create a daily to-do list

I am a person that loves to make list! It makes those moments you may forget something limited! This also helps you figure out what you need to focus on and what you need to let go. Not to mention, crossing things off my list is always a all-time favorite!

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

This is one of the best methods for managing stress because it can relieve both the physical and emotional effects of stress. God, love, and fitness are three things that can impact your life in a positive manner! Add them in your every day. Take your high level of stress and put all that love into the workout!

Find someone you can talk to

If something is bothering you, don’t just keep it to yourself. Talk to people you trust —family/friends/coworkers, about what is on your mind. Speaking about it can some times just be a believe to get it off your mind.

Give yourself a break to relax and recharge

Treat yourself to one relaxing activity every day. Whether that is listening to music, taking a nap, writing in a journal, reading a book, soothing shower/bath, or meditation… add this relaxing activity in your day every day!

Accept those things beyond your control

Some circumstances are simply beyond our control, and we have to learn to cope with and accept them. One of my favorite sayings is “CDC” , Control the Controllables”. Control the things that you can control. You can’t control someones else's actions or how they handle things. Stay calm and believe in YOURSELF!

Make time to do stuff you love

This is so important! Your passions, hobbies, those things that MATTER! Do these things! Balancing everything in itself can be stressful, but make sure you are still are doing what you love!

Set reasonable expectations in your daily life

Regularly taking on more than you can manage can cause unwanted stress! Tell yourself that it is okay to say no to extra projects. Also, don’t take on more financial responsibilities that you may not be able to handle in life at the moment. This will cause unwelcome stress! BE REALISTIC !

You workout every day— so that means you can eat whatever you want? Is this a true of false statement?

The Truth: You can easily out-eat your exercising. It’s essential to both work out and eat right for successful weight-loss and to maintain good health.

A lot of people seem to think putting in the hours at the gym entitles them to eat whatever they want: After all, they're working out — so they must be healthy, right? To put it the best way possible, NO … this is by far not the truth— here are some reasons why.

REASON 1:

Weight loss is about calories in versus calories out. If your goal is to lose weight, you should be counting and logging the calories you’re consuming and the calories you’re burning on a daily basis — aiming for a calorie deficit by the end of the day. So, if you work out on the treadmill for a hour and burn 500 calories and then chow down on more than one slice of pizza (at least 500 calories) — You ate just as many calories as you burned. Plus, you’re refueling your body with refined carbohydrates and will probably be hungry again in the next hour or two.

REASON 2:

You can’t fuel your body with junk and expect it to perform. Just like you wouldn’t expect your car to run without proper fuel, you can’t expect your body to perform with junky fuel. Processed carbohydrates, sugar, or soda only give you a sugar high. They do not give your body the building blocks that it needs to perform in the gym or life.

REASON 3:

You won’t have the motivation to train if you aren’t eating right. Diet and exercise are a feedback loop. When you eat well, you are more motivated to move, and when you move you are more motivated to eat well.

To sum all of this up, the key to a healthy lifestyle is eating whole, real foods and exercising on a regular basis (three to four times a week)! Make them both a healthy relationship and not something that is miserable.

We’ve all heard before that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” But have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? What makes breakfast so important? Here are a couple reasons why you should make breakfast a priority!

It boils down to this: supplements can help add to your healthy lifestyle! But above all, EAT RIGHT, drink lots of water, get plenty of rest, and keep believing in yourself to see a healthy change that lasts.